How do we release a new version of Roundcube? This document aims to provide an answer.

Creating a new release

Versioning

Syntax: x.y.z

• x = major
• y = minor
• z = fix (0 can be omitted)

1. Creating a release branch

• Copy current master into a release branch

  git checkout master
  git checkout -b release-x.y
  git push origin release-x.y
  git config branch.release-x.y.merge refs/heads/release-x.y
  git config branch.release-x.y.remote origin
  

• Remove development stuff:

  git rm bin/dumpschema.sh bin/makedoc.sh tests
  

• edit CHANGELOG: only keep the changes since last release
• edit README: remove the UNSTABLE disclaimer
• bump up version in index.php
• bump up version in program/include/iniset.php
• commit the changes

  git commit -m "Remove development stuff and update versions"
  git push
  

2. Create Package

Major Relase

The steps to take are basically

• clone the release branch from GIT
• compress the JavaScript files using the ​Closure Compiler
• remove test files and .git meta data
• create package archive
• distribute the release package on SourceForge

The process of creating the tarball is packed in a Makefile. Get it from ​gist.github.com and execute

make [GITBRANCH=release-x.y VERSION=x.y] dist

This will produce a tarball named roundcubemail-x.y.tar.gz which can be distributed.

Minor Release or Hotfix

• commit changes to the existing release branch
• repeat the packaging and distribution process
• adjust naming in case of a hotfix or patch
• supply a patch in addition:

git diff <last-rev>..HEAD > ./roundcubemail-patch-x.y.z.patch
gzip ./roundcubemail-patch-x.y.z.patch

• Distribute patch on SourceForge

2.1 Create GPL package

GPL packages are actually the same as the default package but without PEAR and other library files included. To create such a release package, use the above mentioned ​Makefile and execute

make [GITBRANCH=release-x.y VERSION=x.y] dependent

3. Tagging released files

git checkout release-x.y
git tag -a vy.y.z -m "Tagging files for x.y.z"

The differences between branches and tags are the following:

• branch may be "patched" or "hotfixed"
• a tag is just a snapshot and may not be altered
• in case you apply a fix to a branch, please create a new tag from it

4. Announcements

• update downloads page on roundcube.net
• write news entry on SourceForge
• post notification to announce@, dev@ and users@
• update project page on freshmeat.net
• post on Twitter (Till)